hankyoreh

General Thomas Vandal

South Korea and the US have made a final decision to deploy the THAAD missile defense system with American forces in South Korea and have notified China and Russia of the decision. China and Russia immediately expressed their firm opposition to the deployment and called for the plan be scrapped.

The decision has thrown security and diplomatic affairs on the Korean Peninsula into turmoil. In the political arena, opposition politicians are also expressing concerns about worsening relations between South Korea and China and about the economic consequences.

South Korean and US officials have already decided where THAAD will be deployed and are currently considering when to make the announcement. Residents of areas that have been mentioned as possible sites for THAAD bases are clamoring for the base to be located elsewhere.

“South Korea and the United States made an alliance decision to deploy THAAD to USFK as a defensive measure to ensure the security of the South and its people, and to protect alliance military forces from North Korea's weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile threats,” South Korea’s Defense Ministry and US Forces Korea said in a joint statement that they released on July 8.

South Korea and the US have set the goal of deploying THAAD by the end of next year at the latest.

While the deployment of THAAD had become a foregone conclusion after the US and South Korea launched official deliberations on the matter in February, this was the first official announcement of the decision. China had Russia were notified of the decision on the afternoon of the day prior, a senior military officer said.

There has been considerable backlash from China and Russia, with both governments issuing strongly critical statements.

On Friday, China urgently summoned South Korean Ambassador Kim Jang-soo and US Ambassador Max Baucus to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and lodged a strong protest.

“China [. . .] has summoned the ambassadors of the US and the ROK to lodge our representations,” said Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hong Lei. “China strongly urges the US and the ROK to halt the process of deploying the system.”

Immediately after the decision to deploy THAAD was announced on Friday, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted a statement on its website saying that it was “strongly dissatisfied and firmly opposed.”

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs also released a statement with unusual alacrity. Whatever rationale may be given, the Russian statement said, there is ample risk that deploying THAAD on the Korean Peninsula will increase regional risk and create new difficulties for tackling problems on the peninsula.

Yevgeny Serebrennikov, first deputy chairman of the Russian Federation Council's defense committee, warned Russia’s RIA Novosti wire service on Friday that Russia could deploy missile bases to its Far East region that would be within reach of THAAD bases in South Korea.

Serebrennikov added that the missile units could be deployed anywhere in consideration of the distance to American THAAD bases in South Korea and that Russia could also accelerate plans to rebuild military infrastructure on the Kuril Islands in the Far East.

South Korea’s Defense Ministry responded by making clear its intention to move ahead with the deployment of THAAD. “When the THAAD system is deployed on the Korean Peninsula, it will not be aimed at any other country but will solely be operated to counter the threat of North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missiles,” the Ministry said.

The location for the THAAD base has also been narrowed down to a single site.

“We are in the final stage of determining where THAAD will be deployed. We assessed a number of locations as possible sites and are currently down to one,” said Ryu Je-seung, chief of policy for South Korea’s Ministry of Defense, during a press conference.

But the government declined to announce where THAAD will be deployed, citing certain administrative steps that must be taken to select the site and some technical military work that still remains.

“We will be announcing the site within a few weeks at the latest,” Ryu said.

Areas that have been proposed as sites for deploying THAAD – including Pyeongtaek in Gyeonggi Province, Wonju in Gangwon Province and Chilgok in North Gyeongsang Province – are resolutely opposed to being selected to host the base.

The issue is also likely to become a political hot potato. While the opposition Minjoo Party of Korea is not opposed to the THAAD deployment per se, it did express its “regret that the issue was not adequately discussed with the public and the opposition parties.”

The People’s Party and the Justice Party expressed concerns about the “economic ramifications resulting from deteriorating relations with China” and called for the decision to be repealed.

By Park Byong-su, senior staff writer and Kim Oi-hyun, Beijing correspondent

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